<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Love Knows No Distance by verothelilsparkleghost</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28530075">Love Knows No Distance</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/verothelilsparkleghost/pseuds/verothelilsparkleghost'>verothelilsparkleghost</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bleach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>686 who?, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:29:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,111</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28530075</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/verothelilsparkleghost/pseuds/verothelilsparkleghost</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been so long since they’ve seen each other.  He couldn’t really pinpoint exactly when their relationship changed. Everything had always felt natural with Rukia.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kuchiki Rukia/Kurosaki Ichigo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Love Knows No Distance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinigami_Mine/gifts">Shinigami_Mine</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fic was written for my Secret Santa... </p><p>and my Secret Santa is...<br/>*drum rolls, please*...</p><p> Shiniiii  ༼ つ ̥◕͙_◕͖ ͓༽つ</p><p>Hope you like it &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He felt her presence before he even opened his eyes. And just like that his night improved. He opened his eyes slowly, and saw her figure entering his room through the window. He gave her a key long ago, but her preferred method of entrance was and had always been through the window. He left it open for her every night with the hope it’d mean she’d visit again.</p><p>“Rukia…” he whispered. His voice heavy with sleep. He turned in bed to get a better look at her. She was wearing her gigai.</p><p>“I didn’t mean to wake you up, Ichigo.”</p><p>“It’s okay, it was a restless sleep anyways.”</p><p>Her eyes softened.</p><p>He moved and made room for her in his bed. Even though the bed was big enough for them both he knew she liked to lie right next to him. Not that she’d ever admit it out loud.</p><p>“Come lie next to me,” Ichigo said patting the bed.</p><p>“Let me change my clothes first,” she moved toward his dresser and opened the second drawer filled of her clothes. She pulled out a pajama short then opened the first drawer to grab one of his sleeping shirts. She turned around to face him, from the bed he could see her silhouette bathed in the moonlight. She lifted her dress and let it fall onto the floor. Clad in only her underwear she approached the bed. She put on his shirt and her shorts, reaching underneath the shirt to remove her bra.</p><p>Rukia got in the bed and hugged Ichigo tightly. One of her hands caressed his cheek and the other went below his shirt and around his back. He shivered for a second.</p><p>“Your hands are cold," he muttered.</p><p>“It’s windy and cold outside,” she said moving her cold hand around his back, making him shiver once again. “Sorry,” she chuckled, pressing her cold nose against his warm neck.</p><p>“You’re not sorry at all.” His hand found her cheek and slowly slipped into her hair. He kissed her lips softly. Rukia responded to the kiss immediately, softly at first almost like a caress and then with more intensity.</p><p>It had been so long since they’ve seen each other. The last time was two month ago when Ichigo was able to take a couple of days off from University and headed to Soul Society for 3 days. Before that, another month had passed before Rukia was able to visit him in the world of the living. After all, she is the acting captain of the 13<sup>th</sup> division, her duties keep her busy. And he’s a student with a job. She would come mostly to sleep and she would leave again early in the morning. It’s been months since she was able to stay for more than a night.</p><p>Now, a month since he last saw her he could finally hold her again. He’ll take what he can from her. He slept better with her by his side and he knew she did too. Night terrors were recurrent. You don’t fight a war and come out of it unscarred.</p><p>This had been going on for years now. He couldn’t really pinpoint exactly when their relationship changed. Everything had always felt natural with Rukia.</p><p>Years ago, when the war ended they found comfort in each other without even noticing. Anxiety and bad memories kept them both up all night unless they were together.  Eventually, life got in the way.</p><p>Ichigo went back to Karakura and Rukia stayed in Soul Society. They tried to visit each other whenever they could. At the beginning it was easier but as time passed their visits became more complicated to accomplish. In many cases, the visits were of a short duration.</p><p>His priority now was to make the most of the time they had together. They kissed for a long time. Evoking sensations they hadn’t felt in a while, sensations they’ve only experienced with each other. He held her close, her body fully pressed to his, tucking her even closer as they both drifted off to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>________________________________________________________________</p><p> </p><p>Ichigo woke up sometime before sunrise, he could see the reflection of the first morning rays hitting his curtains. His head was still clouded with sleep. Was it a dream? Did his brain trick him? He could’ve sworn he held Rukia in his arms while he slept, not long ago. Did she leave already? Why didn’t she wait until he woke up? Many thoughts crossed his mind in a matter of seconds. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He focused on finding her reiatsu.</p><p>Ah, she was still there, somewhere in his apartment. Relief filled him instantly. He heard the bedroom door open. Ichigo turned in bed and saw Rukia making her way back to her side of the bed still wearing her pajamas and in her hands she held 2 mugs. One was completely black and the other was purple with tiny white rabbits. It was clear which mug belonged to whom.</p><p>“Good morning, Ichigo.” She sat back on her side of the bed with her back against the wall and pillows. She offered him his black mug. Steam was coming from it and by the smell he guessed it contained coffee.</p><p>“Morning.” Ichigo took the mug and indeed, it had coffee in it. He took a small sip and to his surprise it tasted great.</p><p>“Is it good? I believe I managed to make coffee and hot chocolate perfectly this time,” said Rukia proudly. She brought her mug to her lips and drank her hot chocolate.</p><p>“Do I need to buy another coffee machine?” he teased her. Ichigo liked teasing her about the coffee machine, after all, she did break 2 before she learned how to properly use it.</p><p>Rukia blushed. Embarrassment covered her face. He was never going to let her live that down, the coffee machine incidents will haunt her forever. Ichigo saw her red face and chuckled. She kicked one of his legs. He grunted out in pain, but his face was still smiling. Rukia liked his smiles. He had several types of smiles but her favorite was the one she knew was reserved for her. And that’s the one he was wearing right now but she didn’t like the fact that it was produced by teasing her.</p><p>“You idiot!” she kicked him again. “See if I bring you coffee in bed ever again,” she threatened him.</p><p>Still smiling, he moved closer to her. Ichigo took her mug out of her hands and leaned over her to put it on her nightstand. “I was drinking that,” she complained. He hovered on top of her, she instinctively made room for him and he settled between her legs.</p><p>“You have whipped cream on your lips.”</p><p>“What? Where?” She tried cleaning her lips with her tongue, but she didn’t feel any whipped cream around her lips. “Is it gone?” Her tongue darted out again in search of the whipped cream but found none.</p><p>His face moved closer to her “Let me help you” he whispered against her lips. He took possession of her lips tasting the hot chocolate she was drinking as well as that unexplainable delicious flavor that was just Rukia. Rukia responded to his kiss naturally. Lips brushing against each other and their tongues met in battle. One of his hands caressed its way up her thigh while the other helped her get more comfortable in bed. She gasped, breaking their kiss momentarily.</p><p>But Ichigo didn’t stop, his lips moved towards her neck to continue their assault. Rukia threw her head back to give him more room. Her hands were not idle, touching him where she could reach. Her hands grabbed his shirt and prompted him to take it off. They separated for a moment and her eyes travelled over his exposed upper body. “What? Did you miss me?” he teased her. She felt her cheeks getting even more red. “Shut up.” She quickly replied and pulled him in for another bruising kiss. </p><p>It was so much and not enough all at once.</p><p>Ichigo pressed himself closer to her. His hands found the bottom of her shirt and as he pulled it up, her Soul Pager started ringing.</p><p>He groaned. Of course, something had to interrupt them when they finally had the time to be together again. Rukia tried to stretch herself to get to the ringing pager but Ichigo held her tightly. “Just leave it,” he murmured as he kissed the side of her neck.</p><p>Rukia laughed at his comment. “I can’t. I have to take it.” With both hands she brought his lips to hers and kissed him softly, “I told you last night, I’m running exercises with some new members of the squad today.”</p><p>He didn’t remember that. “No, you didn’t.” He frowned but let her go.</p><p>“Oh… maybe I didn’t, sorry I forgot.” She took the pager and shut it off.  Ichigo stood up from the bed and offered her a hand to help her get up.</p><p>“Will you come back when you finish?” He leaned down to kiss her one more time. Her hands wrapped around his neck and accepted his kiss. “Yes, I’ll make it up to you, promise.” She smiled at him.</p><p>Rukia found one soul candy, swallowed it and now she stood there in her Shinigami form. “See you later, Ichigo.”</p><p>“Good luck, midget.”</p><p>She was about to exit his room using the same window she came in last night, when he stopped her.</p><p>“Ah, Rukia…”</p><p>She turned around. “Yes?”</p><p>“Thank you for the coffee.” He winked at her.</p><p>The blush returned to her face. “Idiot!” She said and threw a pillow at him.</p><p>He laughed, caught the pillow in his hands and saw her leave. When he turned around, the mod soul now in Rukia’s gigai was staring intensively at him.</p><p>He raised his hand to the back of his head and scratched. “Um… I need to get ready for classes. How about… you go do whatever mod souls do?”</p><p>“Pyon!” The mod soul saluted in Rukia’s gigai.</p><p>“Just keep her gigai safe!” Ichigo walked into his bathroom and started getting ready for the day ahead.</p><p> </p><p>________________________________________________________________</p><p> </p><p>Rukia was a few minutes late arriving to the designated meeting spot. She saw all the new members were there already. Good thing Kiyone was there too. Rukia saw her talking to a group on the left, so she decided to approach the other small group standing on the right. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t notice her reiatsu approaching, and Rukia could now hear what they were talking amongst themselves.</p><p>“She’s like 150 years older than him,” a girl said.</p><p>“I know, right? That’s weird.”</p><p>“Kurosaki is super strong; I’ve heard rumors his reiatsu is even stronger than most of the Captains.”</p><p>“She doesn’t compare to him at all”</p><p>“And they see each other, what, like 3 times a year? What kind of relationship is that?”</p><p>“He’s a human, living a human life. I don’t know how they’ll make it work.”</p><p>“She’s just making his life more complicated.”</p><p>“After all he’s done for Soul Society, he deserves to live a normal human life.”</p><p>“I think they are good together,” another girl said and they all looked at her like she was crazy.</p><p>That was enough. Rukia decided to make herself known. Her reiatsu spiked and they turned around to face her.</p><p>“Lieutenant Kuchiki!” they greeted.</p><p>“We’re going to start now. Go join the other group.” Rukia told them with a clenched jaw. She was not going to let them know their comments made her angry.</p><p>“Yes, Lieutenant!” They used flash step and went away.</p><p>She took a deep breath; her fists were clenched by her sides. She felt her nails cutting through her skin. It wasn’t the first time she heard people talking about her and Ichigo. He was quite popular in Soul Society. It was to be expected. She didn’t like it, but she was used to people gossiping about her ever since her academy days. This time however, their words hurt a bit more.</p><p>She knew she was preventing him from living a normal human life. It was a recurring thought she had had ever since the war ended. He gave so much of himself in order to protect the World of the Living, to protect Soul Society… to protect her. When she was with him nothing else mattered, she felt good, she felt alive. But that was her being selfish. That had to stop. It was inevitable. She has a life and a duty to carry out in Soul Society and he has a family, friends, a career, in the human world…</p><p>Tears stung her eyes but she didn’t let them drop. Rukia felt Kiyone flash stepping closer to her.</p><p>“Hey Rukia, we’re ready to start,” Kiyone informed her.</p><p>Rukia closed her eyes briefly, took a deep breath and managed to pull herself together.</p><p>She spent the day running the exercises and teaching the new members how to track and slay hollows. At least this way the work kept her mind from spiraling down.</p><p> </p><p>________________________________________________________________</p><p> </p><p>Ichigo arrived back to his apartment late in the afternoon. He felt exhausted and mentally drained. Two exams and a presentation, one right after the other, ugh. Since it was his final year in University, the exhaustion was expected. He was finally back home and he didn’t have classes tomorrow. Maybe he could convince Rukia and drive to Karakura for the day to see his family, the twins and his father would like that. The thought cheered him up a little.</p><p>He laid out the food he bought on the table. He was too tired to cook so he decided to just grab some take away on his way home. Ichigo felt Rukia’s reiatsu coming closer. He served their dinner and put her favorite dessert in the fridge.</p><p>He was waiting for her to walk in through the window like usual, but she didn’t. By her reiatsu he could tell she was here, so where was she?</p><p>Oh, the answer came to him a moment later… huh, she was on the rooftop. As he exited his apartment and made his way to the rooftop he noticed her reiatsu felt a bit different, agitated.</p><p>Ichigo saw her sitting on the edge of the rooftop in her Shinigami form. The final rays of sunlight bathed her silhouette. Her eyes were looking straight at the horizon.</p><p>“Yo, midget. What are you doing here? Dinner’s ready.” He was standing behind her. With one hand he reached out to touch her but she moved away from him and stood up before he could touch her.</p><p>She turned to face him. “I’m not staying, Ichigo.” Rukia replied with her eyes downcast looking anywhere except him.</p><p>“Oh…” Disappointment ran through him. “It’s alright, I know you have your duties in Soul Society. Are you sure you can’t stay for dinner? I bought your favorite dessert.” He told her with a small smirk.</p><p>Her lips trembled and he saw a tear escape her eye. Ichigo lifted her face by her chin and his thumb caressed her cheek, wiping away the tear.</p><p>“Rukia.” he whispered. “What’s wrong?”. Silence was his answer.</p><p>“Come on, midget. Talk to me.” Ichigo insisted.</p><p>Rukia sighed. She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I can’t do this anymore.” One of her hands grabbed the one he was using to hold her chin, she held it for a second and then let it go.</p><p>Ichigo frowned. “What do you mean?” He tried reaching out to her again, but when she moved away a little, he stopped mid-air. Her rejection hurt but he still didn’t know what was happening. “Rukia…” her name came out in a defeated sigh.</p><p>Rukia was agitated. “You don’t deserve this.”</p><p>“What do you mean?” He was confused.</p><p>“This… life you’re living because of me. You are missing out on living.”</p><p>“I don’t understand what you’re talking about, Rukia!”</p><p>“After all you’ve been through… all you’ve done for Soul Society, you deserve to enjoy the normal human life you should’ve had.” She insisted.</p><p>“What about what I want? Don’t I get a say in this?” He argued.</p><p>They never really talked about it. Their relationship was something that happened naturally and evolved on its own.</p><p>She felt the tears burning her eyes about to drop but she was not going to let them. She needed to be strong, she had to do this. It was all for his sake.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Ichigo.” She murmured in a brittle voice. She used her Zanpakuto and opened a Senkaimon in the space in front of her.</p><p>“Rukia, wait. Please.” Ichigo grabbed her by the wrist to stop her. Her dark violet eyes met his honey brown ones, she pulled her wrist from him and walked through the Senkaimon. Rays of light engulfed her, and the door closed after her.</p><p>
  <em>What just happened?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>________________________________________________________________</p><p> </p><p>Five days had passed since their last conversation. Five days since he last saw her. Five days since he let her leave and didn’t chase after her.</p><p>He sat on the rooftop of his apartment. The cool breeze surrounded him. Not a single cloud obstructed his view of the midnight sky glowing with thousands of stars. This was part of his new routine, every night before heading to bed he’d come up to the rooftop and gaze at the stars.</p><p>Nights alone weren’t his favorite. Ever since the end of the war years ago his dreams were filled by memories of the war. And now, all he had was an empty bed and cold walls, no Rukia was going to come and comfort him. He figured deep down he kept hoping maybe the sun would bring her back again.</p><p>He missed her already. The saddest part was knowing where she was right now but not knowing whether he should go find her or give her space.</p><p>Although it is true that they did not see each other very often, it was different knowing that she could appear at any moment and brighten his life immediately. Now… There was a silent ache in his heart. A feeling he recognized. It felt as if he just went back to being 17 and powerless.</p><p>His phone rang several times distracting him from his thoughts. His dad had sent him two messages.</p><p>
  <em>The twins are home from University! We can’t wait to see you and my third daughter this Christmas!</em>
</p><p>Oh… that’s right, Christmas was around the corner.</p><p>He noticed the second message had a picture attached.</p><p>
  <em>Look what we found! I’m gonna print this ;D</em>
</p><p>It was a polaroid picture of him and Rukia taken by Karin. He couldn’t help the memory that flashed in his mind.</p><p>
  <em>It was the third Christmas after the war, he had started his second year of University already. The previous two Christmas’ had been very distressing with the war so recent, everyone was feeling so much sadness. No one wanted to celebrate. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>But this time was different. His dad suggested it and Rukia agreed it was time to try and move on. Rukia had come to visit him first and together they drove back to Karakura. The twins, mostly Yuzu, had gone all out on the decorations and food. The minute they arrived, the twins gave Rukia a Santa hat that she didn’t take it off during the entire night, but they gave him reindeer antlers. Yuzu put them on his head and Rukia couldn’t stop laughing. He was blushing but kept them on. It was nice to hear her laugh. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>His friends showed up too: Ishida, Chad, Inoue and Tatsuki. It felt good to be all together again. They had dinner together and then played some games. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>At some point during the night, he and Rukia ended up underneath a mistletoe.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes! Ichigo and my third daughter are caught under the mistletoe!” said Isshin extremely excited slightly jumping and clapping.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What’s a mistletoe doing here?” Ichigo asked blushing a little.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I saw it in a movie, and I thought it’d be fun to decorate the house with one!” Yuzu exclaimed happily.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What’s a mistletoe?” Rukia asked innocently. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Umm… It’s just a plant.” Ichigo answered blushing.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah, okay, I figured that much but… What’s so exciting about it?” Rukia wondered. She looked around and everyone was smiling watching them standing there. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Rukia-nee! It’s tradition to kiss the person you end up with underneath it!” Yuzu informed her merrily. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Realization hit Rukia. “Oh… I see.” She felt her cheeks turning red.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s just a stupid American tradition, we don’t need to do anything.” Ichigo said anxiously.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Actually, it’s originally a Greek tradition, and it’s now a worldwide thing too.” Karin said smugly, with her arms crossed and leaning on the wall next to them. “What? You’re both too shy to kiss in our presence?” Karin teased. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>If looks could kill, Ichigo would’ve murdered his own sister right there. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>They weren’t really keeping their relationship a secret per se, But they hadn’t talked about it at all. It just started one day and kept going. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Come on, we all know!” Said Tatsuki. Orihime smiled next to her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You’re both not as discreet as you think.” Said Ishida. And Chad nodded in agreement. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Shut up!” Ichigo stuttered. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Before he could react, Rukia grabbed his face in both her hands, lowered him a little, and on her tiptoes crashed her lips to his. His eyes widened but a second later he responded to her kiss. Everyone around them cheered. A camera flashed but he didn’t notice, he was too busy blushing.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It is tradition, Ichigo.” Rukia smiled and kissed him again briefly. </em>
</p><p>And that was how the picture of him and Rukia kissing under the mistletoe while wearing a Santa hat and reindeer antlers happened.</p><p>He loved her.</p><p>He already knew that. He was pretty sure she loved him too. They never felt the need to talk about feelings, but maybe it was time for him to lay his cards on the table and be frank.</p><p>He became a better person because of her. He enjoyed all their moments together. He knows he could live without her, he did it once already for 17 dreadful months and he refuses to go through that again.</p><p>He made the decision to go after her.</p><p> </p><p>________________________________________________________________</p><p> </p><p>He arrived in Soul Society late in the evening. He tried finding her reiatsu but couldn’t. That was strange, was she trying to avoid him? Maybe. She must’ve figured out he’d come find her at some point.</p><p>Ichigo made his way through the familiar streets of the Seireitei all the way to the 13th Division barracks.</p><p>“Kurosaki-san, good evening. What can I do for you?” Sentaro greeted him once inside.</p><p>“Hey, Sentaro. I’m looking for Rukia.” It didn’t seem like he knew about their <em>break-up.</em></p><p>“The Lieutenant is away on a mission with Kiyone. Her last mission before she transfers to the 4<sup>th</sup> Division.” Sentaro informed him.</p><p>Ah, so she was avoiding him. “Do you know when they’ll be back?”</p><p>The third seat skimmed through some documents on his desk. “If everything goes according to plan, they should be back tomorrow afternoon. Want me to rely a message for you?” He offered.</p><p>“No, thank you. That won’t be necessary. I’ll come back again tomorrow.” Ichigo replied.</p><p>“Alright then. Have a good evening, Kurosaki-san.”</p><p>“You too.” Ichigo was about to exit the Division but turned to face the 3<sup>rd</sup> seat again. “Ah, Sentaro. Please don’t mention my visit to Rukia.”</p><p>Sentaro continued working on the documents he had on his hands. “No problem, Kurosaki-san.”</p><p>Ichigo left the 13<sup>th</sup> Division. Now standing in the middle of the street looking up at the night sky, he figured this was a good time as any and made his way to go talk with the Head Captain.</p><p> </p><p>________________________________________________________________</p><p> </p><p>The next day late in the afternoon he stood in front of her office door. The Captain’s office. She was still a lieutenant, but she carried out all the work a captain would. The death of Captain Ukitake was something no one was ready to move on from yet, despite the fact it happened many years ago. He figured it wouldn’t be long now before she was offered the Captain position.</p><p>Ichigo knew she must have felt his presence the minute he walked into the Seireitei. This time he felt her reiatsu and noticed the small way it reacted to being close to his.</p><p>Sentaro saw him before he could walk in. “Kurosaki-san, she is busy right now with paperwork. And asked to not be disturbed.” He informed Ichigo.</p><p>“I’m afraid this cannot wait.” He grabbed the door handle. “I need to speak to her, it’s important.” Ichigo pushed the door open without knocking. He was sure Rukia knew he was there. “Please Sentaro, make sure we are not bothered.” He said and went inside her office. Everything was unchanged from the last time he was there.</p><p>Ichigo saw her standing behind her desk and in front of the window with some papers in her hands. She didn’t seem to be reading them. Rukia was starring through the window, the dusk sky was her view. Ichigo took a few steps towards her and stood behind her. He slipped his arms around her waist, and for a moment he felt her stiffen in his arms. He hesitated. But soon enough he felt her relax and he decided to pull her closer to him. Her back now touching his chest.</p><p>He leaned in, lowering his head and resting his lips at the conjecture of her neck. Ichigo breathed in deeply. Her scent filled his lungs.</p><p>She sighed. He turned her around to face him. She raised her face to look at him. Their eyes met each other. In that fleeting moment several feelings, thoughts and emotions passed between them. Rukia was the first one to break eye contact.</p><p>Rukia started the conversation.</p><p>“Listen, Ichigo---” but he didn’t let her continue. His lips crashed into her own. Rukia dropped the papers she held in her hands. She put her hands on his chest and slowly moved them upwards, towards his hair.</p><p>A moment later she broke the kiss. She was breathing heavily.</p><p>“Wait, Ichigo. We can’t---” She started saying but he kissed her again. His lips and tongue took control over their kiss. She gasped. Her hands drew him closer to her. He wanted to pour all his feelings and thoughts into that kiss.</p><p>But they needed to talk…</p><p>Ichigo pulled away from her lips reluctantly. Her face was flushed. He pressed his forehead against hers and looked at her.</p><p>Rukia took a deep breath and opened her mouth, but Ichigo beat her to it.</p><p>“No. It’s my turn to talk. The last conversation we had you were the only one talking.” Ichigo walked away from her and started pacing around her office as he spoke. “I had time to think about what you said and let me tell you how little sense it makes.” Rukia opened her mouth to retort but he kept talking. “I’ve never been a normal human. I never really wanted to be one anyways. Thanks to you I was able to protect the people I care about. You made me want to be stronger. You gave me a purpose and throughout the dark times you gave me happiness.” He stopped pacing around and walked back closer to her.</p><p>“I already know what my life looks like without you and I don’t plan to go through that ever again.” He trailed his fingertips on her forearm barely touching her. It made her shiver. “It has always been you. You dried my rain and lit up my world…”</p><p>Rukia let out a deep breath. “Ichigo…” She grabbed his hands.</p><p>He brought her hands to his lips and kissed them. “I know what people say about us. I’ve heard the rumours too. We’ve never cared what people think, and we shouldn’t start now. They think I want a normal human life. They’re wrong. My life is so much more than normal.”</p><p>Rukia was a bit surprised. She didn’t know he knew what people said about them.</p><p>“I spoke with Kyoraku yesterday.” That caught her by surprise. “He wasn’t happy I showed up so late at night” He laughed a little.</p><p>“I can imagine… what did you talk about?” She asked him.</p><p>“He offered me a place here in Soul Society, you know this already.”</p><p>“But that was years ago and you said no, because you wanted to go to University.”</p><p>“I did.” He confirmed. “But I’ll finish University in a couple of months, and I decided to accept his offer.”</p><p>“Ichigo… What about your family? Your friends? And your career?”</p><p>“My family and friends all have passes to Soul Society, they can come and visit, or we can go back to Karakura too. As for my career, I can start a new one I like here. Everyone knows you’ll need a Lieutenant soon.”</p><p>She gave him a soft smile.</p><p>“I can’t force you to stay with me… but I was surprised to learn Kuchiki Rukia would surrender to adversity so easily.” Ichigo teased her. She gasped and slapped his arm. “You idiot!”</p><p>Ichigo took her hands in his before she could hit him again. “I love you, Rukia.” He said looking directly into her eyes.</p><p>“You can even ask Zangetsu.” He added, and she laughed at that. “You are<em> it</em> for me.”</p><p>She was a breath away from him. “I love you, Ichigo.” She whispered against his lips and the soft smile she had come to know that was only reserved for her made an appearance on his face.</p><p>Their lips came together as he held her close. His fingers travelled across her body making her gasp. Her hands were not idle, one hand was entwined in his hair and the other caressed his burning skin.</p><p>With their lips moving in sync their tongues battled each other. Without breaking the kiss she pushed him back until his legs hit an armchair, he sat down and he guided her down to straddle his lap. His lips moved down to place heated kisses on her neck and her body arched up towards him wanting to feel him closer.</p><p>“Let me live forever next to you.” He whispered against her flushed skin.</p><p>Rukia threw her head back allowing him more space. “Yes…” She replied in a breathless moan.</p><p>“Hold me tight, and don’t let go.”</p><p>Ichigo kissed her again.</p><p>“Never.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Special thanks to my lovely Other Half, Rrae &lt;3 for beta-ing and having to put up with my whining.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>